Are lighthouses still useful?

[jjorgenson3]

Plus 1

Lets separate

navigation lighting and the humans that support it.

I like the fact that humans have jobs, and keep up lighthouses. It is especially nice to see a nice lighthouse and grounds in Canada.

But...

The lights they produce are extremely valuable. What they do is provide a visual confirmation of your location when approaching a change in terrain, or hazard.

I use lights constantly at night and feel that they help provide for safe navigation.

Plus 1

 

[Hippocampus]

100% agreed.

It's the one thing I'm going to miss the most about pure sailing. Under the cover of near-total darkness with no engine drone... Just you, the wind, and the ocean.

Nothing else quite like it.

Have grown to like that constant non varying engine hum as well. Very restful lowering stress and knowing all is right with the world and I don’t need to wake anyone. Still enjoy being on watch at night alone in the pilot house. Warm, dry and a cup of tea as I listen to a background of low volume tunes. It’s all good.

 

[stow it]

I think that they are still very useful and important. Let's keep in mind that they were not originally built for the cruising public but for commercial ships. It would not be prudent to approach a headland using just one navigation tool when there are others available. For instance, a coastline on radar can be a bit confusing on radar but if you had a light and a bearing to that light you'd be able to orientate yourself. The US Navy still utilizes(practices) celestial nav so why wouldn't you use lighthouses.
If you ever get into an area with a sectored light part of that sector will be a red light to warn of danger.
We used to use publications like the Light List and Coastal Pilot. The light list gave you the identity of every light with its navigational features as well as its physical. All of the lighthouses have different signals within a given area so that you don't confuse them.

 

[jleonard]

Lighthouses are extremely important. My wife loves to take pictures of them. She even stayed overnight in one ( on the Hudson River) with our daughter and granddaughter.